This blog presents information about the 62 men named on the WW1 memorial from St James Church, Toxteth.
Use the tabs below or the search bar to navigate the site. The Names page has links to each man. Please leave comments or email me at thewarmemorial@gmail.com

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Monday, January 27, 2014

Private Thomas Hermann Lindburg / Girvin 157051, 3035, 241410

Thomas Herman Lindburg / Girvin

This was a puzzle, he is one of
the last men to be identified and it was only due to a breakthrough by Kathy Donaldson that I found him at all.

Kathy spotted a soldier named Thomas Herman Lindburg whose mother was named
Harriet Girvin, they lived in Brassey St, Toxteth so were right by St James
Church. It seemed possible that this was the soldier from the memorial but some
further research was required to prove it.

Family
Information

Thomas Herman Lindburg was born on 3rd October 1895 in Liverpool.
He was christened on 11th November 1895 in St Peter's Church, Liverpool. The
christening record shows his mother Harriet Marian Lindburg of South Chester
Street and no father.

A check of earlier records shows that his mother was indeed unmarried at the
time of his birth as she was born 19th February 1874 and christened Harriet
Marion Lindburg 14th March 1875 in St Peter's Church, Liverpool. Her parents
were Hermann Lindburg and Harriet Lindburg of Brassey Street. Hermann was a
mariner.

Harriet
Marian's earlier life is unclear from the records, her parents were married
31st May 1868, her father's full name was Knutt Hermann Lindburg or Lindbury,
aged 27 and a mariner, his father was Elias Lindbury, a carpenter. Her mother's
name was Harriet Higgins, she was 18 years old and her father James Higgins was
a shipwright. Both addresses were 'Mann St'. Harriet Marian was born in 1874,
and a sister Martha Ellen Hodson Lindburg was born in 1878.

The 1881
census shows no trace of Herman or Harriet (mother) and both daughters were
enumerated at the house of their grandmother Ann Higgins.

The 1891
census shows no trace of Herman or Harriet (mother) and both daughters were
enumerated at the house of John Simpkins, they are described as his
neices but due to Ann Higgins being present as his sister, it would appear that
he was actually their grand-uncle.

Thomas
Lindburg/Girvin was born in 1895 as shown above.

In the
1901 census there is no Harriet Lindburg, but there is a Harriet Girvin aged 26
and married (but with no husband at home) and two sons, Thomas Girvin aged 5
and William Girvin aged 3.

In the
1911 census Thomas Girvin, aged 40, was the head of the household at 13 Brassey
Street with his wife Harriet Girvin, Thomas Herman Lindburg aged 15 (son),
William Girvin aged 13 (son) and Reginald Broad Lindburg (nephew) aged 2.
Thomas and Harriet say they have been married for 14 years and have had 2
children, one surviving.

In 1915
Harriet Marian Lindburgh and Thomas Girvin were married at St Nicholas Church,
Liverpool. Bride's father Herman Lindburgh (deceased) and one witness Martha
Ellen Lindburgh.

So,
Thomas and Harriet had lied about being married, it is possible that Thomas
really was the father of Thomas Herman. In 1901 Harriet listed his name as
Girvin so we can assume that is the name he went by. In 1911 either he had
reverted to his real name or Thomas Girvin was more conscientious when filling
in the census forms. Thomas Herman used his real name of Lindberg to
enlist but his family had him added to the memorial as Girvin.

Military Service

Thomas's
service records have not survived but his medal card shows that he served with
The King's (Liverpool Regiment) with the regimental number 3503 and with the
Machine Gun Corps with the regimental number 157051 and was entitled to the British
War Medal and the Victory Medal.

His entry
in UK Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-1919 adds that he was born in
Liverpool and enlisted in Liverpool.

Information
on the King's Liverpool Regiment database at the Museum of Liverpool shows that
he served with the 2/6th KLR with the service number 241410

Death and Commemoration

Thomas
Lindburg died of wounds on 27th October 1918 whilst serving with the MGC. This
means it is likely he was wounded during the Battle of the Selle which was part
of the final advance on Picardy in the Hundred Days Offensive of the end of the
war.

Thomas
Lindberg is buried in Awoingt Cemetery, Awoingt is a village near Cambrai. The
cemetery was used for about a month from the middle of October 1918. It holds
653 Commonwealth graves, mostly casualties from the 38th, 45th and 59th
Casualty Clearing Stations which were posted in the area. As we know that
Thomas Lindberg died of wounds it is likely that he died in one of these CCSs.

Thomas
Lindberg's name does not appear on the Hall of Remembrance at Liverpool Town
Hall.

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The St James Memorial Project

This is my hobby which is slowly taking over all my free time!
I love history and researching and I am particularly fascinated by the First World War and how it affected the people of Liverpool. I believe very strongly that War Memorials should be protected and cherished and shared so that the sacrifices made by our local communities are never forgotten.